Rum Recipes

If you saw last week's dessert recipe, you know I made a French-style pumpkin flan for my husband Lulu. He had asked me to make a flan, which in his mind meant crème caramel, but instead I made a flan pâtissier (French pie crust with pumpkin custard). I always try to keep my promises, so here's the pumpkin crème caramel, which Lulu loved.

His favorite part is the caramel at the bottom of the cup. You could serve it as is, or flip the dessert onto a plate so the caramel drips all over the "flan". I photographed it in both serving styles so you can decide which you prefer.

Three days to Thanksgiving(or four days to Black Friday, depending on your priorities )!

A journalist contacted me this week and asked if she could use my crème brulée photos. Not that I need much prompting, but it got me thinking of crèmes brulées and I thought I could try out some new flavors.

I happened to have baby bananas in the house, along with some leftover shredded coconut from making lima bean curry. The mini bananas come from Guatemala. They are very sweet and flavorful. I caramelized them in sugar and used them as garnish. I flavored the custard with the shredded coconut, rum and banana extract. The result is a very pleasant dessert using ingredients that are available this season. Can't wait for spring to experiment with more flavors!